


Enemies From The Past

by madders



Series: Out Of Gas AU [1]
Category: Firefly
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-11
Updated: 2012-07-11
Packaged: 2017-11-09 16:09:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/457396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madders/pseuds/madders
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An enemy from the past comes back to haunt Jayne.</p><p>Timeline: This is set pre-series, when Jayne has only been on Serenity for a month or so. It is the first prequel to my Out Of Gas 'verse:</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enemies From The Past

Jayne stood just behind Mal’s right shoulder, watching impassively as Mal neatly caught the bag of coin and tucked it into the pocket of his coat. This was a pretty easy meet, and he was almost itching for a fight. He’d been on Mal’s boat for a month, and except for the odd firefight, things had been pretty quiet. As a result, he was getting antsy.

It felt good to be just him and Mal out here on the drop, knowing that he was trusting him to watch his back without Zoë, but damnnit he wanted a little action for once. Unfortunately for him, the guys they were making the exchange with were on the up-and-up, and they simply took the goods and left.

Mal stood and watched them until they were out of sight before turning back to Jayne, his own smile slipping as he caught sight of the frown on Jayne’s face.

“What’s wrong Jayne?” he asked.

“Nuthin’” Jayne replied, still scowling.

“We got the coin, think maybe you oughta be happy ‘bout that.”

“I am. S’just...”

“Just what?” Mal asked, starting his trek back to the shuttle.

“Ain’t no fun, is all,” Jayne admitted.

“You’re unhappy ‘cause we didn’t get in a firefight?” Mal asked, incredulous.

Jayne grunted. “Well. Iffin you never get in a fight, what you gonna need me for?”

Mal looked him up and down. “Just ‘cos we didn’t need your firepower this time don’t mean we won’t never.”

“I ‘spose,” Jayne muttered.

“Tell ya what.” Mal grinned, slapping him on the chest. “Next time we make planetfall somewhere with a bar, what’s say you ‘n me go start ourselves a good old fashioned brawl?”

“You’d do that?” Jayne asked, surprised.

“Hell, yeah!” Mal responded. “Been ages since I did that- Zoë looks at me all disapproving like, and Wash just ain’t the brawling kind,” he explained.

“Okay,” Jayne brightened up. “We’ll do that.”

They moved together, both still smiling as they neared the shuttle. But the smiles fell as a figure appeared in the doorway, and they heard the snick of rifles behind them.

“Hello Jayne,” the figure in the doorway spoke, his voice heavily accented. He stepped out of the shuttle with a pronounced limp, moving out of the shade so the light fell fully on him.

 _“Shen sheng gui,”_ Mal muttered under his breath.

“Marco,” Jayne growled, his jaw tightening.

“Long time no see,” Marco smirked, moving closer, limping heavily.

“Not nearly long ‘nough,” Jayne replied, itching to draw his guns.

A rifle barrel in the small of his back stopped him. Marco nodded at the guy behind Jayne, and he moved quickly, unholstering Jayne’s guns and taking his knife from its sheath before pulling Jayne’s hands together and tying them in front of him.

Jayne glowered at Marco, listening to Mal beside him.

“Marco. What can we do for you?” he asked pleasantly, as the man behind him quickly disarmed him as well.

“With you, nothing,” Marco replied. “With him, everything.”

“Well now, just a minute,” Mal began. “Jayne here’s on my crew now, if you wanna to talk to him, you gotta ask me first.”

Jayne’s head whipped around to look at Mal. He hadn’t ever been considered part of someone’s crew before, and yet here was Mal announcing it and telling Marco to leave him alone. Mal should’ve been happy to see the back of him, like everyone else he’d ever worked for. It didn’t make sense to him.

Marco scowled, limping closer to Mal. “Jayne turned me over for you.” Marco pointed out. “That’s not something I forgive. You just thank me that I’m more upset with him than you.”

Mal stood to his full height, looming over Marco’s smaller frame.

“That may be. But he’s still my crew.”

“And he’d turn on you just as fast,” Marco replied. “Loyalty means nothing to him, or didn’t you learn that when he shot me?”

He turned away from Mal and started towards Jayne once more.

“I ain’t got time for this _go se._ Let’s go,” Marco spoke to his men. Jayne’s eyes widened as Mal attacked Marco from behind, bringing him to the ground. Marco yelled as he hit the ground, and Jayne struggled against his captor as they tussled in the dirt. Unfortunately he couldn’t get any leverage with his hands tied, and it seemed that Marco had replaced him with an even bigger guy, who kicked him in the back of the knee, dropping him to the floor and putting the rifle barrel against his head.

The guy who had been holding Mal jumped into the fray, and all Jayne could do was shout a warning as he brought the butt of his gun down on Mal’s head. Mal shook it off the first time, stunned, but then the guy got a better grip on him and did it once more; and Mal slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Marco kicked Mal off of him and stood stiffly, favoring his leg and holding his side.

 _“Hundan,”_ he cursed, kicking Mal in the side with his bad leg and wincing in pain.

They turned and left him, advancing on Jayne.

“Looks like your new boss won’t be much help no more,” Marco smirked. Jayne made no reply, just looking at Marco with murder in his eyes. Marco saw the look and narrowed is gaze, lifting his arm and backhanding Jayne across the face. Jayne’s head snapped to the side, but he didn’t respond, merely turning his face back up, giving Marco the same cold stare.

Marco suddenly grinned. “Yeah. We gonna have lots of fun,” he nodded to himself before looking at his two men. “Let’s go.”

Jayne was forced to his feet and led away from the shuttle and Mal, behind a nearby dune which hid Marco and his men's horses. The man holding Jayne shoved him towards Marco’s horse, watching as he managed to swing into the saddle before handing him the end of the length of rope tied around Jayne’s wrists. Marco grinned evilly down at Jayne and tied the end around the pommel of his horse. “We’re going for a ride,” he smirked. “Hope you can keep up.”

The other two men mounted their horses and all three turned their horses towards the east and set off at speed, forcing Jayne to try and keep up.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Mal stirred to the sound of engines, frowning as he felt the sand and dust blown against his face, irritating him no end. He distantly registered the sound of a ramp lowering, and tried to lift his head, groaning and letting it fall back to the ground as it made his vision swim until he felt sick.

“Sir? Sir!” He thought he could hear Zoë calling for him, and he stirred at the tightly controlled tone in her voice; she only sounded like that when she was really worried.

He groaned and tried to get up, pushing up with arms that felt like liquid even as he felt Zoë’s firm touch on his shoulders, rolling him onto his back.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, helping him to sit upright slowly.

“I’m fine Zo,” he replied, holding a hand to the back of his head before removing it, half expecting to find his palm coated in blood.

“Did that _dongwu_ Jayne do this?” she asked, taking a look for herself.

“It weren’t Jayne did this. It was that _gan ni niang_ Marco,” he explained. “Seems he holds a bit of a grudge against Jayne and decided to pay us a visit.”

Zoë frowned but said nothing, holding her hands out to steady Mal as he stood, not touching him but ready nonetheless just in case.

“Rutting _hundan_ was waiting for us when we got back. Jumped us with his goons and took Jayne.”

“Just Jayne?” Zoë asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He weren’t after the coin,” Mal added, taking the pouch out and handing it to Zoë. “When I get hold of him I’m gonna shoot him down. Or better yet, let Jayne at him.”

“When you what?” Zoë asked.

“When I go and get Jayne back. I’ll teach Marco not to mess with us.”

“You’re gonna get Jayne back? What for?” she asked.

“Zoë!” Mal admonished her. “Man’s been kidnapped and taken away to be tortured and killed by a madman.”

“So?” she asked, nonplussed.

“So, the reason he’s been taken is because he turned on said madman ‘cause of me.”

“Sir, he didn’t have to take your offer. He could have just killed us.”

“And I for one am glad that he didn’t; as well you should be too.”

He turned and moved away from Zoë, heading towards a dune, which was the highest piece of ground nearby.

“Way I see it. I owe him for that. Just as I owe him a cut of this coin, and a bar fight.”

“You sure you’re alright Sir?” Zoë asked, confused by the reference to a bar fight.

“I’m good enough. And I’ll be better once I’ve got my man back,” he added.

“And just how are you planning to track them?” Zoë asked. “That’s one of the reasons we brought Jayne on the boat, remember.”

“Ain’t likely to forget Zoë. Which is just one more reason why I want him back,” he turned towards Zoë and smirked. “On this occasion however, I don’t think we need the services of a tracker.” He pointed across the desert, to the tracks clearly visible in the sand. “We just need eyes.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Jayne grunted as he fell to his knees once more. With his hands tied, being dragged behind Marco's horse meant that he was constantly off balance. He scowled at the sound of Marco's laughter and started to stand. He was jerked off balance again as Marco carried on moving his horse, dragging him across the sand.

"Hey Jayne? Enjoying yerself yet?" Marco yelled; grinning as Jayne managed to get up once more. Jayne didn't reply, merely spitting out a mouthful of sand and glaring at his captor.

“Don’t look at me like that Jayne,” Marco warned. “Might make a man feel mean spirited.”

“I’ll look atcha how I like,” Jayne responded, refusing to be cowed.

Marco frowned at him and drew his gun, pointing it at Jayne. “`Careful Jayne,” he warned. “Won’t take much to make me shoot you down.”

Jayne kept his mouth shut, looking away from Marco. He didn’t want to get himself shot now, not when he might be able to find a way to make an escape later on.

Marco roared with laughter along with his men and holstered his gun once more. Jayne grit his teeth, but didn’t make any other outward sign of annoyance.

“Let’s get movin’,” Marco urged. “We are nearly there and we have lots to do.”

Jayne looked up, surprised to see how close they now were to a rocky outcropping that seemed to mark the edge of the desert. Beyond it he could see solid ground, instead of the sand he was quickly growing to hate. He cursed himself for not being more aware of his surroundings, but all of his concentration had been on keeping his feet, leaving little room for anything else.

He thought he’d heard Serenity’s engines behind him some time ago, but there had been no sign of any rescue from that quarter. Not that he expected as much, no matter what Mal had said about him being crew. No-one in the ’verse would stick their necks out to save the likes of him. Mercs were dispensable, and there would be no reason for Mal and the others to break that mold. No, if he was going to get free, he’d have to do it himself.

He stumbled along after Marco, doing his best to keep his feet, even as his head swam a little. He could do with some water, but Marco wasn’t about to give him anything like that. What would a dead man need water for?

Eventually they moved onto proper solid ground, and Jayne was finally able to walk without sinking in the sand and falling over. Marco and his men knew where they were going, and there was no conversation as they moved across the land. Jayne could now pay more attention to his situation, and he carefully tried to work the ropes around his wrists loose, keeping an eye on Marco and his men, while at the same time looking around for anything that might help him with his escape.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Zoë watched as Mal paced the bridge restlessly, waiting for Wash to move Serenity closer. It’d been quite a while since she had seen him get this riled up about anyone or anything, and it intrigued her. Mal’s explanation of how they owed Jayne more than to just leave him to die was true enough, and she accepted it, however little she may have liked it, but something about it just didn’t sit right with her. Mal was worked up like he’d been when one of his recon squads was late getting back.

They’d only known the Merc for a month, how come he had managed to work his way that deep under Mal’s skin? If it had been herself, Kaylee, even Wash who had been taken, she could have understood it. But this was Jayne! The foul, uncouth mercenary who had got on their boat by virtue of the fact that he could be brought off. Why did Mal see the need to be so quick to go after him?

Wash kept his eye in front of him and on the sensors, casting the occasional confused glance back at Zoë, who only shrugged.

“I can’t get much closer Mal, they’ll hear Serenity’s engines long before we get near, and that’ll do us no good at all,” he sighed.

Mal nodded stiffly and left the bridge, going in the direction of the cargo hold. Zoë looked at Wash before following, her husband only taking a few seconds to land Serenity before he trailed after them as well.

Kaylee stopped fussing with the mule as Mal entered and turned to them. The young mechanic smiled grimly and nodded.

“Kaylee?” Mal called to her, “what’s the news?”

“All prepped and ready to go Cap’n,” she promised. “Mule’ll handle fine; so long as yer careful. She don’t mind the sand none, lessen it gets too deep,” she explained. “‘N you can’t get too close to ‘em neither,” she added, “else they’ll hear ya coming a long away off. Get yerself close as you can then leave her and move on foot” she advised, patting the Mule softly.

Mal nodded at her. “Thank you ‘lil Kaylee, you done good,” he smiled, and Zoë watched as Kaylee beamed at the praise from her Captain.

“No problem Cap’n, anytime,” she grinned back, wiping her face with the back of her hand and covering herself with grease in the process. “You just be sure to be careful and get Jayne back,” she told them.

“We’ll get him,” Mal promised. “C’mon Zoë!” he called, climbing onto the mule. “Daylight’s a burning and we need to find Jayne ‘fore it gets dark.”

“Yes Sir,” she nodded, climbing up on the mule with him. She looked up as Wash appeared beside her, worry etching his features. “Be careful _bao bei,”_ he begged, reaching out to touch her.

“Promise,” she replied, catching his hand with her own. He squeezed her fingers briefly before letting go and stepping back as Mal turned and smiled at Kaylee and Wash as he started rolling forward.

“Don’t worry ‘bout us none, we’ll be back ‘fore you know it,” he promised, rolling the Mule down the ramp and out onto the sandy plains. He turned in the direction of the tracks and carried on, soon leaving Serenity behind.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Jayne struggled against his bonds, trying furiously to work the knots loose. Marco had brought him through what looked like an abandoned village, with just a few ramshackle houses dotted about here and there, set around the entrance to a mine. He peered into the darkness, held still by the larger of Marco’s two men as Marco dismounted and the other man took the horses away.

“Raoul, bring him,” Marco ordered the man holding Jayne.

Raoul pulled Jayne towards the entrance, while Marco kept a gun trained on him to make sure he didn’t try and escape.

Inside the mine it was pitch black, until Marco lit a couple of handheld gas lights, shedding some dim light onto the gloom. A flash of shiny metal caught his eye, and Jayne could just about make out a couple of new-looking rings on the wall, standing out against the dullness of everything else in the mine. Raoul manhandled Jayne towards them, slamming him up against the rock face when he struggled.

“I got this all ready for you, Jayne,” Marco told him. “Planned it all. Didn’t know the where or when of it, till I heard mention of your good Captain. Seems he was gonna be right here on this very moon, and more than likely bringing the ‘wall a muscle’ he had hired with him. I admit I was surprised,” Marco admitted, “thought that he’d have the sense to lose you, but then, I hear he’s kinda stupid and trustin’ like that.”

Raoul slammed him into the rock face once more before he loosened the ropes on Jayne’s wrists, trying to force them up to the bolted rings. Jayne took the chance to fight back; knowing that if he got chained to the wall, chances were he wasn’t going to get free again.

He jerked a hand free and managed to land an uppercut to Raoul’s chin, forcing him to loosen his grip long enough for Jayne to pull his other hand free. Marco swore and aimed the gun at him, but Jayne had made sure that he kept the other man in the line of fire so that Marco didn’t have a clear shot.

He and Raoul fought, Jayne managing to push off of the wall and kick Raoul in the stomach, forcing him backwards with an oomph and knocking him into Marco, so that they both went down in a pile.

Jayne didn’t hang around, running to the entrance of the cave and out into the daylight, looking around for the fastest way to get out of there. He didn’t see the third man who was stood behind him, at the side of the mine entrance. The first he knew was the sound of a gunshot and the accompanying flash of pain before everything went black.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Mal and Zoë followed the tracks in the sand as the stretched across the desert floor. Mal glanced at them every few minutes, just to make sure they were still following the right path, whilst Zoë kept one eye on Mal, and the other eye on everything around them.

The desert was pretty much flat, so the chances of being caught unawares out here were slim, but that didn’t stop Zoë from checking. She hadn’t kept herself and Mal alive this long without being vigilant.

They were heading towards the edge of the desert, the few trees and rocks on the land standing out hazily against the horizon. She peered down at the marks in the sand that Mal was riding alongside, frowning at the shape of them. Mal glanced at her and caught the puzzled expression on her face and stopped, nodding down at the tracks grimly.

“Three horses,” he supplied, causing Zoë to look at him sharply.

 _“Shen me?”_ She asked.

“The tracks are from three horses, that much I can work out,” he pointed at the three distinct tracks running side by side in front of them.

“You said Marco had two men Sir?” Zoë queried.

Mal took a canteen of water out of his coat pocket and handed it to her.

“I surely did,” he replied. “And this here?” he motioned to another set of marks in the sand, running just to the side of the middle set of tracks. “This would be Jayne’s tracks,” he told her. “See how every once in a while they make a great crater? I’d lay odds that’d be where he’s fallen to the ground.”

Zoë handed Mal back the canteen after taking a healthy swig and looked at where Mal was pointing, frowning as he took a drink himself before replacing the canteen and starting the mule up once more. “He ain’t gonna be in good shape,” she pointed out.

“Nope, I believe that you might be right about that,” he agreed. “But it also means that most likely they won’t have gone too much further with him; lessen they wanted to drag a dead weight,” he added.

“They’d be tempted, but it’d take too long,” She agreed “‘Sides, looks to me like Marco had this all planned.”

Mal nodded grimly. “That had crossed my mind. The drop weren’t exactly near civilization,” he frowned. “Which leads me to believe that he must’ve known where he was taking Jayne. Man’s also impatient,” he added. “Knew that from ‘afore, when he tried to steal our cargo. If he’d bin patient, he coulda waited ‘till we went to dig up the cargo and make the drop ‘fore he jumped us.”

“What do we know about this rock Sir?” she asked, “Anything that might give us an idea where to start looking?”

“This part of the planet’s almost completely deserted now,” Mal explained. “That’s why it’s so good for making drops- ain’t no-one around to get nosy.”

“But I thought this was mainly a mining planet?” she questioned, “was one of the biggest exporters of ore as I recall- there isn’t any mining ‘round here?”

“Used to be,” Mal replied, gesturing around the barren landscape. “Leastwise was ‘til a few years back, then they ran into problems. Seems like the terraforming didn’t hold that well, and the land started getting more and more barren, deserts spreading and the like. Swallowed up more ‘n a few towns. Planet with no soil to speak of can’t support a big population- ore exporting or not. Costs more to ship in fresh food than it do to ship ore out, so they can’t afford it. Most’ve the settlers that are left are on the other side of the planet- on the southern continent. They’re supporting themselves barely, but it won’t hold for too many more years,” Mal explained.

“Meantime this whole area is pretty much one big desert, with a few bits of solid ground in between,” he pointed at the land they were approaching. “Our friend Marco’s headed over there, and from the scans I had Wash do ‘fore we left, we ain’t gonna hafta go far to find ‘em. There’s an old mine ‘bout a mile in, and we’re headed straight for it.”

“If Marco’s taken him in the mine, won’t be an easy way in without getting spotted, Sir.” Zoë pointed out with a frown, still not entirely happy.

“I know it,” Mal replied. “Way I figure it, we leave the mule soon as we get close to the settlement and move on foot, less chance of being spotted that way. Then we scout around and see what the situation is ‘fore we move in. Might be Marco’s just holed up in one ‘f the abandoned buildings, which’ll make things easier on us.”

“He’s in the mine.” Zoë stated firmly.

Mal glanced back at her. “You taken up mind reading now?” he asked.

“No Sir,” she replied with a shrug. “Just nuthin’s ever that easy for us.”

Mal snorted. ‘Ain’t that the truth,’ he thought to himself.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Jayne came back to consciousness on a wave of pain that threatened to take him right back under again. It took him a few minutes to get enough awareness back that he remembered what had happened, and then a little longer to realize why his arm hurt like a _tamade hundan._

He was now firmly tied to the wall of the mine, and as he had been unconscious, all of his weight was being held up by his arms- in turn pulling on his shoulder, which it seemed was where he’d been shot. He slowly and carefully managed to get his feet back under him and holding him up, easing the pressure on his arms and shoulders, even though it still hurt like hell. He winced as even that small movement pulled on he wound and he felt the slickness of fresh blood as it crept down his back.

He blinked as the light around him suddenly became brighter, and Marco moved into his line of vision.

“Back with us Jayne?” he asked. “Good. No point in hurting you when you ain’t awake to feel it,” he added.

Jayne looked from Marco’s smug looking face to Raoul behind him, feeling pleased for himself as he saw the bruising on his face from their fight earlier. Raoul saw the look and growled, tensing his muscles and taking a step towards Jayne.

Marco held up a hand to stop him, smirking at Jayne.

“Don’t know what you’re looking so smug for- you’re the one with the bullet in you and tied to a wall,” he pointed out.

Jayne glared at him but stayed quiet. He was out of options and even he wasn’t stupid enough to start shooting his mouth off at Marco now.

Marco limped closer to Jayne, the gaslight in his hand swaying and throwing shadows across the walls.

“You turned on me Jayne,” Marco growled at him, poking his finger into Jayne’s chest. “I don’t like scum who turn on me,” he added, leaning closer still.

“Do you know what I do to scum like you?” he asked, his foul breath making Jayne wrinkle his nose.

Jayne didn’t answer, just staring at him blankly.

Marco snarled at him before leaning back and hitting him hard on his jaw, rocking his head to the side. “I take them apart Jayne. Piece. By. Piece.” Marco turned and stepped away from him, motioning to Raoul, who picked up an old, rusted crowbar and started moving towards him, the evil glint in his eye reflecting off of Marco’s light.

Jayne straightened as much as he could, and waited for it to start.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Mal and Zoë skirted around the buildings as they headed for the mine. They had already checked around the perimeter, but had found nothing, so now they were moving in closer to the mine entrance, looking for any sign of movement. Mal rounded the side of one building and watched as Zoë carefully moved around the opposite side of the next building over. As they got closer they could hear muffled sounds coming from the mine, and Mal didn’t need to see it to know the sounds of a man getting beat on.

He was about to break cover and head for the mine when he spotted one of Marco’s men moving around the edge of the entrance. He stopped, turned and scanned the buildings, and then moved into the mine, distracted by the sounds coming from inside.

Mal caught Zoë’s gaze, and he jerked his head in the direction of the mine. She nodded in agreement and kept her gun trained on the mine entrance as Mal sprinted for the edge of the mine. He stopped just short of slamming into the solid surface and pulled his own gun, peering into the gloom to give Zoë cover as she ran to the opposite side of the entrance.

Once settled either side they carefully peered into the darkness, spotting the silhouette of the man who they had just seen enter, standing a few hundred feet away from them, leaning against the mine wall as he watched something going on just around the corner from him. From this close they could hear the sounds of pain and laughter as Marco taunted Jayne. Mal couldn’t tell if the grunts were coming from his merc or the hundan who was beating on him, and at that moment he didn’t care. He was still alive, and the sooner he and Zoë got him out of there, the better. The only problem was that they had to somehow take out this guy without alerting Marco of their presence. One sound from him and Mal was sure that the only thing he would be saving was a dead body.

Mal was about to move and try hitting the guy with the butt of his gun when his eye was caught by a glint of metal just inside the doorway. He peered at it for a moment before a smile crossed his face for the first time since before Marco shown up. He motioned to Zoë, who looked where he was pointing and smiled grimly as she picked Jayne’s massive knife up off of the ground from where it lay amongst the rest of his weapons. She hefted it in her hand, finding the weight of it before tossing it lightly to Mal, who caught it easily and slipped it out of its sheathe.

He nodded once more to Zoë before slipping silently into the mine, creeping up behind the lone man, who was still mesmerized by the scene playing out in front of him, the shadows flickering and dancing eerily around him leaving him oblivious to the danger lurking behind.

Mal sidled up behind him and quickly covered the man’s mouth with his left hand, raising the knife with his right and slashed across his throat, pulling him back around the corner and holding him in his death throes before dropping his body silently to the ground.

Zoë moved to stand beside him and waited as Mal wiped the blade clean on the dead man’s coat before peering around the bend to see where Marco had Jayne. Mal took in the sight and blanched a little, his hand tightening reflexively on the knife. He looked at Zoë and she stared back at him, even in the low light she could see the murderous look in his eyes and knew then that Marco was in for a world of pain.

He pulled his gun and looked at her for a second, he nodded at her, and she acknowledged him with a tilt of her head and they sprung into action. Mal fired at the giant with the crowbar, hitting him in the back mid-swing and dropping him instantly, dead.

Stepping up beside him, Zoë swung her gun around and shot Marco, aiming for his legs, dropping him to the floor in agony once again.

Mal glanced at Marco, glad that Zoë knew him as well as she did, and hurried over to Jayne, who was seemingly unconscious, hanging from his arms.

“Jayne? Jayne?” Mal called, wrapping an arm around his back and trying to take some of the weight off of his arms. He frowned when he felt slickness against his hand and did his best to peer over Jayne’s shoulder to see what he was touching. He cursed as he saw the dark blood staining his palm and he stooped down to get his shoulder under Jayne’s armpit to help take the weight off his arms as he used Jayne’s knife to cut through the ropes holding him up.

As he suddenly took the full brunt of Jayne’s weight, Mal cursed and stumbled, managing to control Jayne’s bulk as he slumped to the ground. Behind him he heard Marco’s continuous cursing stop only as Zoë hit him over the head with her gun, knocking him out. She came across to help Mal, who was trying to settle Jayne comfortably on the hard ground without irritating the bullet wound on his shoulder or the numerous welts and contusions on his face, chest and stomach.

“Sir?” she asked softly, watching Mal fuss over Jayne.

“He’s out cold,” Mal replied, not looking at her. “We’re gonna need the mule to get him out of here.” Zoe nodded and started to move, but Mal stopped her. “Here,” he turned to her, pulling the communicator out of his pocket and tossing it to her. “Call Wash, get him to land Serenity as close as he can to the edge of this dump, we’ll meet them with the mule and get the hell out of here.”

“Consider it done Sir,” she replied. “What about him?” she asked, nodding in Marco’s direction. Mal turned to look at the unconscious man for a second before going back to Jayne.

“Leave him,” he ordered. “I’ll deal with him.”

Zoe nodded and sprinted off, knowing that Jayne needed to get the infirmary, and quickly.

Mal turned his attention back to Jayne, who was still breathing, although every breath seemed to be causing him pain. Mal reached into his pocket and withdrew the canteen, twisting the top off with his teeth before carefully lifting Jayne’s torso and tilting his head enough so that he could get some of the liquid into Jayne’s mouth.

At first the liquid ran uselessly out of the corner of his cracked lips, but then he swallowed, and Jayne coughed and spluttered as the liquid ran down his throat. Coming back to consciousness Jayne thrashed around on the ground, seeming to fight against invisible attackers.

Mal caught his injured arm before he could do any more damage and tried to stop his flailing.

“Jayne, stop it. It’s me, it’s Mal,” he called to him, dropping the canteen and catching Jayne’s head with his free hand and trying to stop him bashing it on the rocky floor.

“It’s Mal!” he repeated, squeezing Jayne’s arm for a moment before letting him go.

Jayne groaned and eased up on the thrashing, opening his eyes a crack and peering out through the slits.

“Jayne? You hear me? It’s Mal,” he repeated once again, leaning over so that he was in Jayne’s direct line of vision.

“Mal?” Jayne slurred; his voice rough.

“Yes Jayne, it’s me,” Mal replied with a tight smile.

“Why?” Jayne whispered, his raising his uninjured arm to grab hold of Mal’s shoulder, partly to see for himself that he was real and not imaginary.

“You’re my crew, ‘member,” Mal told him gently, picking up the canteen and handing it to Jayne, helping him to hold it steady enough for him to take a drink.

“Marco?” Jayne asked, his voice a little stronger now.

Mal moved out of the way and pointed to the crumpled form on the floor.

“He dead?” Jayne asked.

“Not yet,” came the reply. “Zoë got him good in the other leg ‘fore knocking him out though,” he grinned, pleased to see Jayne return the look.

“Zoë?” he questioned, still not completely putting the pieces together in his mind.

“She’s gone to call Wash and get the Mule in here,” Mal explained. “Didn’t think you’d fancy walking.”

“Yer got that right,” Jayne agreed settling back against the wall of the mine with a little help from Mal.

“Killed the _hundan_ over there though,” Mal motioned towards Raoul.

“And the other one?” Jayne asked, concerned.

“He was lounging around outside. Got him with this,” Mal explained, picking up Jayne’s knife and holding it out to him. “Seems Marco was kind enough to leave all your gear at the edge of the mine, came in real handy it did,” Mal smirked; his look bloodthirsty; and Jayne could suddenly see the soldier behind the Captain’s mask.

Jayne took the knife with a small nod of thanks, turning it in his hand like a long-missed object.

“You up to me taking a look at that bullet wound of yours?” Mal asked, reaching out to gently tap Jayne’s shoulder.

Jayne grunted in assent and sat up enough so that Mal could get a look at the wound. He frowned at the bad light and glanced at the flickering oil lamp still on the floor where Marco had dropped it.

He patted Jayne softly on the leg and stood, walking over towards Marco and bending over to scoop up the lamp. He grunted in surprise as he was suddenly grabbed around the legs and knocked to the floor.

Marco used the element of surprise to quickly roll on top of him and try to pin him down, but Mal recovered from the shock and started to fight back, trying to punch him and get out from under his fists. Marco went for Mal’s gun, and the two of them fought furiously over the weapon, each trying to dislodge the other enough to get a clear shot.

Marco wrapped one hand around Mal’s throat, trying to choke him, forcing Mal to take one hand off of his gun to try and pry his fingers loose. Marco was running on adrenaline and barely seemed to feel Mal as he tried to kick out at his wounded leg.

All of a sudden a large hand wrapped around Marco’s throat and wrenched him away from Mal, sending his gun spinning away as he was pulled onto his back by Mal’s feet.

Mal put a hand to his throat as he sat up, just in time to see Jayne plunge his knife into Marco’s chest again and again, long after Marco stopped moving. Mal moved closer to Jayne and put a gentle hand on his arm, and Jayne snapped out of the trance-like state he was in and fell back from the body.

Mal caught him around the shoulders, careful not to agitate his wound, and silently took the knife out of Jayne’s hand.

The two of them sat together, Mal watching Jayne as Jayne stared at Marco’s body, until they heard the sound of the Mule entering the mine. Jayne looked up at the sound before turning to look at Mal, who smiled kindly at him.

“You okay?” he asked, concerned.

“Bin better,” Jayne replied with a grimace.

He looked at Mal, the one question he wanted to ask ready and waiting on his lips, but Mal beat him to it.

“Time to go,” he informed him, standing gingerly and reaching down to help Jayne to stand up.

“We done now?” Jayne asked, managing to stand but still leaning heavily on Mal, trusting him to hold him.

Mal looked around at the chaos and carnage at his feet and then back at Jayne with a smile.

“Got what I came for,” Mal replied, squeezing his arm gently and bending down to pick up and holster his gun before helping Jayne around the bodies as Zoë came around the corner with the mule.

**Author's Note:**

> shen sheng gui - holy hell  
> hundan – bastard  
> go se - crap  
> dongwu - animal  
> gan ni niang - motherfucker  
> bao bei - darling  
> shen me? - what?  
> tamade hundan – motherfucking sonofabitch


End file.
